Kabuki Reflections [Hardcover]

Contrary to the current (Nov. 2010) product description, the Reflections hardcover collects Reflections issues #5-9, not #5-10 or #1-5. It is black with the "Kabuki" kanji debossed on the front cover, and does not have a dust cover (unless my copy was defective). The black cover makes it look somewhat like a hardcover sketchbook, incidentally, which suits the contents rather well.

Reflections presents a selection of David Mack's art, including sketches, finished paintings, comics pages, and so forth; most of this is related to the Kabuki series. Each piece (with just a few exceptions) has a brief caption telling you what it is, when it was made, and what media was used, and more than a few have some description of the process. In a few cases Mack shows us photos of a piece at various stages of completion and comments on how he proceeded from step to step.

Also included are a few pages with photos of David Mack and his friends at conventions and other places, photos of fans' Kabuki/Noh tattoos, and even some pics of fans in Kabuki-related costumes. At the end is a selection of letters from fans and friends about Mack's work, and the script for the first 14 pages of Kabuki: The Alchemy #1. (The complete Alchemy #1 script is included at the end of the hardcover Alchemy collection.)

I especially like Mack's watercolors, but the appeal in this book for me is the general range of creativity presented, particularly in some of the sketchbook excerpts, which somehow convey an impression of artists hanging out together, sketching each other and generally enjoying each others' creative influence.

This book will probably appeal primarily to fans of the Kabuki series; if you are not a fan of the series already, this may not be a good starting point. It seems like a good book to page through when in need of creative inspiration (by which I mean not ideas for art, but rather a sort of creative morale-boost).

Of all the books that stood on the shelf, this one stood out because it's black. This book doesn't seem have a dust jacket although the product image on Amazon has it.

This book looks like a sketchbook because of the black cover. On the cover inscribes the Japanese kanji words "Kabuki", barely visible.

Inside's a collection of David Mack's sketches, paintings, sculptures and photos. Some of them on the Kabuki comic series, some on Daredevil, works for other comics and some sketches from life.

I like his watercolour style. It has the randomness of watercolour, yet well controlled to produce a beautiful portrait. Every piece has a textural feel to it from the watercolour splashes. Some are worked on canvas. Come to think of it, there aren't a lot of comic artists using watercolours.

David Mack seems to like collages. You'll see a few pages of collage with his drawings and photos. There's a very scrapbook feel to the book. There are photos of some of his hand made books, which he adapted into a collage style book made from his father's old hymn books. On some pages, he draws on a graph paper and sticks text balloons and straps of text using other paper.

Some of the photos included are of him drawing at events, snapshots of his paintings in progress, fans who have Kabuki tattoos.

There are lots to read, from the captions to dialogue of his random comic strips, and some fan letters.

This is a fantastic book for fans and sketchbook lovers. Every page is a pleasant surprise of style, drawings and ideas.

(There are more pictures of the book on my blog. Just visit my Amazon profile for the link.)

I really enjoy this book and continue to draw inspiration from it in my own work. The way that David Mack uses his mediums to expand creativity is incredible. I love his work and I think this is a fun book to look at. I appreciate his sketchbook art as well as his refined watercolors. Inspiration is developed from many things and it's not always a finished product.